I’ve been reminiscing about how obscenely sweet and juicy the mangoes were when I spent a month with Duncan travelling around Australia. I was reconciled with the fact that my mango recipe ideas will have to wait until we move (not that fast, Ania!), okay, visit Australia or perhaps South-East Asia again.

I mean, Greece has such an abundance of beautiful summer fruit that I wasn’t even that bummed, but I do happen to love mangoes so I was missing their flavour a fair bit.

That was until I walked into our green grocers one day and saw a two trays of mangoes. One contained large, still very green specimens clearly imported from Brasil, which I was not that excited about as I found them to be lacking in the flavour department. The other mangoes couldn’t look more different – they were very small, oddly shaped yet they appeared beautifully ripe and fragrant. The owner must have seen the cogs in my brain turning so he hastened to inform me that the smaller ones are grown on Paros. WHAT? OMG! ‘Are you sure?’ I said to him.

Contrary to what you may think, Greek islands are not great for growing stuff in summer as there is no rain for months. Of course, he was sure! We decided to buy a few to jazz up our morning Bircher muesli. Despite their small stature, these little guys punched SO MUCH flavour that I immediately felt so much more awake (I’m not a morning person) as soon as I had my first spoonful. From that point onward, I started fantasising about turning them into a summery vegan mango and ginger cheesecake… So here it is!

PS: If you do make this cheesecake, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (#lazycatkitchen). I love seeing your take on my recipes.

Method

Line the bottom of your spring form tin (mine was 16 cm / 6 ” across and 6.5 cm / 2.5 ” tall) with a circle of baking paper and cut out a long rectangle to line the sides with.

CHEESECAKE BASE

Grind your almonds in a food processor until you get a coarse crumb. Take them out of the food processor and set aside.

Drain your dates, squeeze excess water out and chop them roughly. Place them into the food processor (no need to wash it after you process the almonds) and process into a smooth paste.

In a bowl, mix date paste with enough ground almonds and desiccated coconut to obtain a dough that isn’t too sticky yet still holds together well. I prefer doing it by hand but you could also just dump your ground almonds and desiccated coconut back into the food processor and incorporate all of them together. Season with a bit of salt to taste.

Line the sides of the spring form tin and then mould the base mixture to the bottom of your tin. Press the mixture down well with your fingers so that there are no gaps / air-bubbles. Put a bit of baking paper on top of the base and weigh it down with something heavy (I used a round container of similar size, filled with sugar). Put into the fridge while you make your cheesecake mixture.

CHEESECAKE LAYER

Just before you are ready to start blending the cheesecake layer, put agar flakes and ½ cup of aquafaba (or water if you don’t want to use aquafaba) into a small pot. Let the mixture come to the boil and simmer on low-medium heat, stirring frequently, until flakes almost dissolve and the mixture thickens (about 10 mins). From that point onward, you’ll need to work fast as agar sets as soon as it cools down.

Chuck rinsed cashews, coconut cream, maple syrup, grated ginger, lime juice, warm agar mixture and an extra ¼ cup / 60 ml of water into a blender. Blend, scraping the sides of the blender from time to time as the set agar likes to stay on those. You’ll need to work fast as agar sets as soon as it cools down.

As soon as the cheesecake mixture is super smooth, take the spring form tin out of the fridge and pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the set base. Make sure you do it very quickly to get a smooth finish as, like I mentioned before, agar sets very quickly. Gently hit the filled spring form tin against your work surface a few times to get rid of air pockets / bubbles. Allow this layer to set completely (about 10 mins) before pouring on the next layer.

MANGO LAYER

Put cubed mango pieces into a clean blender and blend until smooth.

Put ¼ cup / 60 ml of water into a small pot and add agar agar flakes. Let the mixture come to the boil and simmer on low-medium heat, stirring frequently, until flakes almost dissolve and the mixture thickens (about 10 mins).

Add agar mixture to the mango puree and blend until smooth. Pour over the cheesecake layer and allow it to set before decorating.

Notes

*I have never used agar powder, but if that’s the only agar you have, most Internet sources say that 3 tsp agar flakes equal 1 tsp agar powder, so for this recipe I would use 1 and ½ tsp of agar powder for the cheesecake layer and a bit over a ½ tsp for the mango layer, however I have not been able to test this so please follow the instructions of the particular brand you have. Finally, make you sure you activate agar powder as per the instructions on the packet, adding dry powder to the cheesecake mixture will have no setting effect.

**Aquafaba – water from a can of low-sodium chickpeas or from cooking dry chickpeas at home. I did not reduce aquafaba for this application.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.

get a sweet e-book

on joining our mailing list

I’d like to receive new recipe emails and a link to your free e-book.(By submitting this form you agree to our privacy policy.)

This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

Thank you so much for another amazing recipe!!! I made this yesterday and the taste is delicious!! BUT, although it is the first time I use agar agar, I don’t think the flakes / powder amount is correct. I’m not sure though… I’m an agar agar beginner!! I used the powder, exactly as you said, but the cake didn’t become solid enough in the fridge, so I had to put it in the freezer for a couple of hours, but it became more of an ice-cake… still delicious though, but I was really hoping to get the “yelly” cheesecake result. Perhaps I did something wrong? Next time I’ll use the flakes!!

Thanks for your message. I’m so pleased to hear that you liked the taste, such a shame it didn’t set. I am confident about the amount of agar flakes being correct as that’s what I used multiple times and the cheesecakes set at room temperature within minutes. As for the powder, like I said in the notes, the conversion is what I found on the Internet and I haven’t been able to test it myself as I cannot get agar powder where I live. In fact, I took a more conservation conversation into account (3 tsp agar flakes = 1 tsp agar powder) as some sources say that 3 tsp agar flakes equals 1/2 tsp agar powder. It may also depend on the brand of agar powder used so I guess it is best to test with the particular brand you can buy. I use flakes by this brand in case you are able to get them. Good luck with the next attempt and I hope it will set beautifully for you!

Thanks for the quick reply, Ania!!! 🙂 I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m gonne go with the flakes next time, since you use them frequently. I used the brand Lima, my mom has a lot of expierence with it. I heard her saying: “Lucia, that is not enough!!”. But I told her this is what you recommended, so that’s what I’m gonne use hihi. Anyway, I need to practice. Unfortunately I can’t find the brand you use, but next time I will try the flakes from Terrasana, do you have expierence with this brand? I will try the strawberry cheesecake next, I’ll let you know how it went! 🙂

Mums are (almost) always right, aren’t they 🙂 ! I really hope the next one turns out well! No, I haven’t heard of either Lima or Terrasana brand, I’m afraid. As I live on a small island, I don’t usually have much choice when it comes to speciality ingredients and so I can only get this one brand I mentioned. I would have hoped that they are all equal strength but sounds like maybe not. Perhaps try making 1/4 of the recipe and set it in a muffin tin first to be sure you’ve used enough agar for the big version. That’s how I develop my recipes as I hate wasting ingredients. Good luck and please let me know how it turned out! And say ‘hello’ to Mum! 🙂 x

I Used a Little more since i Read your Comment and still had to freeze IT. Its in the freezer Now And i am impatiently waiting to try IT. Will get the flakes But if using powder i Would use The Same amount As the flakes. I Used 3 Passionfruit ( only The juice) with the Mangos!! Passionfruit Addict ❤️ Thanks for the Recipe. Will Send You Foto on Instagram 🙏🏾

Thanks, Matty! I’m looking forward to that photo. That’s so strange as all the Internet sources agree that powder is much more powerful than flakes (1:3). I’m curious, have you simmered the powder in water for 5 minutes before adding it to the cheesecake mixture?

Thank you for this gorgeous and challenging recipe.
I have not prepared food with Agar Agar before. It gave me a challenge. I only have a 20cm pan, so the base mix just covered the bottom luckily. I put it in the freezer in between layers for quicker cooling and setting.
The centre was delicious and set well. The top didn’t really set, but was amazingly delicious anyway.
It took me quite a while to prepare this recipe (about an hour) as I hadn’t used Agar Agar before and found it a bit fiddly. Other than that I found it was fairly straight forward.
Thank you . I tagged you in my Instagram pic.
I’m sharnaskindkitchen.

My pleasure, I’m glad you liked it and it worked out well in the end 🙂 I find that when using any ingredient for the first time there is always a bit of a learning curve. When you say that your mango layer didn’t set – how much mango puree did you use, what type of agar (flakes or powder) and how much agar? (I’m assuming to activated agar prior to use.) Ania

PS: didn’t have any notification from Insta from you 🙁 can you try again please? x

You could soak cashews in boiling water for about 1-2 hrs instead – they should be sufficiently soft after that time. I haven’t tried making this cheesecake with anything else so I cannot recommend a replacement that I am sure will work, I’m afraid. Hope that helps!

So excited to make this for a dinner I’m attending this weekend! Can the recipe be doubled, or will that cause issues with the cheesecake setting properly? (I don’t have a 6″ springform and not sure where to get one.) Thanks!

No worries, Cheri!:) Well, I guess sweetened desiccated coconut (which I had no idea existed, to be honest) will make the base sweeter. Given that it already contains sweet dates, I would opt for unsweetened. Hope that helps! Ania

This looks super yummy. I just cut some mango but saw this recipe so I’ll use it for this instead. Especially with the heat! Anywho, would it be fine to opt out of cashews? Maybe a nut butter? Any thoughts?

I’m not sure as I haven’t tried making this without cashews so you’ll need to experiment a bit first. The advantage of using cashews over other nuts / nut butters is that they have a very subtle taste, which allows other flavour (ginger in this case) to come through. Not sure which nut butter you are thinking of but you’ll need to use a lot of it to compensate for that amount of cashews. It may work though, worth trying on a small sample! Good luck! Ania

I absolutely love this vegan mango and ginger cheesecake recipe here.
I would also love to feature it in our website Greenthickies. Would it be all right if I used one image for it? I will not be posting the actual recipe but only one image, title, a small quote and then link directly back here.
Would that be okay?

Giving this recipe a try today. I have never used Agar either and all I could get locally was powder. With that said, the label does say to use 2 T : 8 oz of liquid so I am going to go with that ratio and see how it goes! Will keep ya apprised….
Have a lovely weekend.
Cindy

I don’t wanna confuse you, but 2 tbsp (I assume that’s what you mean by 2T?) of agar powder sounds like an awful lot as it is much stronger than agar flakes. Bear in mind that the cheesecake mixture is not a thin liquid, it contains a fair amount of fat which means that you’ll need less setting agent to set it than if your were making a jelly, for example. I would use 2 tsp max – maybe that’s what you mean, but I just don’t want you to have a rock hard cheesecake so thought I would let you know 😉 . Have a lovely weekend too and hope the cheesecake comes out just right! Ania

Okayyyyy, I realized after I hit submit that the ratio for the agar powder is actually 2T : 16 oz (1 pint). SO…with that in mind, this baby is all mixed up and sitting in the fridge. The leftover bits on the spatula tasted amazing. Fingers crossed it sets up properly. I have a feeling it will since HOLY MACKERAL no body mentioned that this stuff turns into SILICONE GASKET TYPE MATERIAL once its cooled!!! Warning to other neophytes DO NOT LET THIS STUFF DOWN YOUR DISPOSAL OR SINK. I was cracking up as I scraped any residue/remnants into the trash thinking Wow what a science experiment this was today!! 😉

Hi there I am planning to make this for a dinner with friends tomorrow. Sorry if it’s a silly question but when you say coconut cream do you mean the solid bit at the top of a tin of coconut milk or I have bought ‘coconut creamed’ which is essentially a block of coconut. It says you can make coconut milk by disolving 50 g in 100ml of water. Should be fine on te Agar front as managed to get flakes 🤞🏽 Thank you! Xx

Yes, I mean the fatty part that rises to the top of a full fat coconut milk can or you can also buy just coconut cream on its own in a can, but creamed coconut is a different thing, as far as I know. Hope that helps! Ania

Yes, it should work, but it is likely to contain some acid (as a preservative) so you may need to increase the amount of agar agar a little as, like gelatine, it is weakened by acid. Hope that helps! Ania

This was easy to make, I used the mango pulp but I think I might have needed more agar agar . I tagged you on my instagram post at @kanchanseasycooking. Thank you so much for the recipe! I skipped the ginger part.

For the base I have tried a similar technique, but only using a mix of Almond, Walnut and ground linseed (as a neat way to increase Omega 3 in the diet) with rave results.

I adapted the raw nut butter method. Using the nut mill that came with my stick blender I grind together the nuts and pre-ground linseed. However I stop just before it turns into a nut butter when it starts to come together but it’s not smooth. At this stage is some of the nuts have become butter but some of them are still very fine crumbs. This mixture holds together very well by itself without any additions, and is yummy and healthy. You can just press it into the bottom of your cake tin and use as normal.

Yes i activated it, I followed the activation procedure. It just wasnt enough agar agar powder. But never mind! We ate it as a frozen cheesecake, which works well for a hot Australian summer! I will definitely be making it again. The ginger in the cashew mix is a really refreshing twist. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Ania.

Your email address will not be published. Fields marked as * are mandatory

This form collects your name and email so that we can correspond with you and display your name and the content of your comment. Check out our privacy policy for more information.

I consent to having Lazy Cat Kitchen collect my name and email

Recipe Rating:

Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.

Follow us on insta

Like us on Facebook

Lazy Cat Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca.